Month: October 2014

The past two weeks have been two of the best weeks of my life, and for the simplest reason.

I was able to run.

It seems weird- a lot of people hate running. “I have to make myself run” and “I don’t run” are statements I frequently hear from those around me.

I ran cross country and track in high school, and once I got to college I continued to be an avid runner- I would run at least four miles every morning and only skipped when my school work made exercise impossible. But last September, I set out for what would be my last run for a year.

Half a mile into my run, my left knee gave out. Running through pain is hard, but most runners accept that some pains need to be pushed through. The only problem was that I could not push through this pain. In fact, I couldn’t even walk home with this pain.

I rested for a few days and tried again- this time, the pain started even sooner.

The pattern continued for weeks, so I went to the doctor. I would try to run every month, to no avail. I went to physical therapy for months, took three cortisone shots to the knee and even went a few months without trying to run at all. At my last doctor’s appointment two months ago, the doctor told me I probably wouldn’t be able to run long distances ever again.

But two weeks ago, out of complete frustration with pretty much everything, I tried running. Again. And I didn’t have to stop.

I’m not sure why my body decided to cooperate. I’ve run every other day since I ran two weeks ago, and haven’t felt the pain even once. I don’t want to jinx the situation, but this may be the end of a year-long depression.

It’s finally that time of year in Chapel Hill when leaves change colors, Instagram is flooded with pictures of pumpkins and Starbucks brings back the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

I guess I never realized how obsessed everyone was with fall until two weeks ago when the season arrived.

On that Tuesday, I walked downstairs to get a spoon for breakfast and the house mom, Ms. Debbie, greeted me with “Happy first day of fall!”

…Thank you?

A few hours later, I checked my Instagram. About seven pictures of leaves, PSLs and the Old Well (paired with sentimental captions about fall in Chapel Hill, obviously) drowned my Instagram feed. All in a row.

Naturally, Twitter was my next move. Guess what most of the tweets on my feed were about?

Fall!

“Goodbye, iced coffee season!”

“Hello, pumpkin spice latte season!”

“Fall in Chapel Hill is my favorite season!” (Heart emojis were used, and some leaves as well.)

Maybe people love fall more lately, or maybe social media has made everyone’s love for fall more prominent- I, for one, already miss summer. Maybe I’ll make a post about that.